I've always been a "Yes" girl. Until recently. Perhaps…..it's my age. Or maybe the ages of my grown up kids. I see how quickly time passes by. The important stuff? Isn't at all what we think it is when we're jumping on board with every little busy thing life offers us.
Time robbers.
I don't have to tell anyone about lost time. Every single person has experienced it in their own lives and in their own way, personally. It's easy for me to let my mind slip to a place or time that I wish I could live, just once more. Maybe it's a person I'd love to have just one more conversation with or to hug so tight. Or a moment lost that I gave my time and attention to instead of what was genuinely eternal for mine or my family's lives.
Just to please…..who? Someone else.
I read a story yesterday of a man who made a choice to go to a meeting with a client while his wife and new baby were at the hospital. In his mind, he didn't have the ability to say NO. Fear of what the client would think of him for pushing business aside drove him to the decision to go but in his heart he knew, he was in the wrong place! Strangely, the meeting never landed him a bit of good but the choice he made that day is forever etched in his and his family's heart.
Each of us have the choice to say no.
We train ourselves to say yes by the language we use. Words like, "I have to do this.." or "I have to send this message to…" or "Just one more phone call…" when the cold hard truth is that we CHOOSE to do what we ultimately end up doing.
So, what are your priorities? What are the most important parts of your life? Is it a job, a hobby…..a cellphone/social media outlet/hiding out in a book? What is it that YOU CHOOSE over the things you end up feeling guilt over?
Learn to say, no!
Lord,
My life is important. It's important to those around me but especially so, to You! Thank you for reminding me that I need to prioritize the right things into my life and those around me. I don't want to live or die with regret.
Amen